Yeltsin Orders Tighter Controls
On Tax-Evading Alcohol Sector

Russia's President Boris Yeltsin ordered a major crackdown on the country's huge and disorderly alcohol industry, in an attempt to stem tax evasion and boost direly needed budget revenues.

The move was Mr. Yeltsin's most significant since his return to the Kremlin at the beginning of this week following heart surgery, and signals his resolve to tackle immediately the country's most pressing economic problems. On Thursday, presiding over a meeting of a special commission created this autumn to seek ways to increase...